Freedom Force of Mobius
by KnuxfanEO
Summary: (Archie w my OCs and my own unique twist)The world is divided between Robotnik and Dimitri. Who will save Mobius? Fans of the comics will like this. (Not enough Archie stuff)
1. Default Chapter

**Author's Note:** Hey! Maybe you haven't heard of me. I am KnuxfanEO, and this is my sixth story arc…kinda. The other five were all connected, so if you're interested in reading them, please make sure you do it in order. Otherwise, it makes no sense! I'm all for making no sense, because sometimes I do, but when reading something, it's…well, different. Anyway, I don't own anyone in this story that is Sega or Archie related. I do, however, own the Ravagers. They are my creations, reflected off of some of my own personal traits (You'll come to think that I'm a maniac). Well, let my blabbering not keep you waiting.

Intro:

_There is not great prelude to this story. No fantastic tale of a Holy Grail or Ring of Power. Not even one of them 25-cent rings you can get at a grocery store. You know, the cheap plastic ones that have 'Made in China, or Taiwan, or anywhere BUT the US' engraved on it. No, we shall have none of that. All I can say about the past is…_

THERE WAS A WAR

Indeed, there was a war…and it cost many their freedom…or their lives. I suppose it all began several years ago, when a man named Ivo Robotnik became general of King Acorn's armies. Slowly he gained influence over many, striving to achieve the trust of the King. He waited for the most opportune time to strike, and it indeed came…with the invention of the roboticizer: a device that turned flesh to metal, and with the proper re-programming, enslave the mind of the unfortunate victim. Many were secretly roboticized by Ivo. He then continued production of his Swat Bot army, mechanized creations that would do his bidding. Then finally…his day came. He attacked Castle Acorn, captured the king and banished him to the negative zone. This is when it all began…the era of darkness on Mobius.

Years later, another evil arose from out of seemingly nowhere. He called himself the great Dimitri, master of the Dark Legion. His technologically advanced troops quickly enslaved any settlement they passed through. Ivo was intrigued, and the two created an alliance. They divided the planet into sections, co-existing. Those who lived under the Legion were lucky. They weren't roboticized. Ivo wanted to enslave the minds of his subjects. Dimitri was merely searching for power…a power he had lost. Once he had regained it, Ivo and his empire would crumble. He would just have to wait…

And so the stage is set. The planet of Mobius is divided between the Dark Legion and Robotnik. Resistance is futile and suicidal. Yet, there are those who are willing to pay the price for freedom…now they must unite as one.

"The messages have been sent, princess," Rotor the Walrus said to Princess Sally Acorn, daughter of King Acorn. "Good, Rotor. Now we just need to wait." "Wait for what?" Tails, a young fox, asked her. "For those who are willing to fight." "Sal…chances are no one will come. I mean…everyone's scared," Sonic replied. "Nevertheless, we must hope. This team cannot be made of just us. We need something more."

Sally Acorn  
Sonic the Hedgehog  
Miles 'Tails' Prower  
Rotor the Walrus  
Antoine De'Coolette  
Bunnie Rabbot

The Freedom Fighters

In a small town, some twenty or so miles away, the sun begins to set. This area is controlled by the Legion, and Legionnaires patrol the streets. The town is very dingy, and in shambles. We follow two Legionnaires to a local bar, Talon's Tavern (No Irish stereotype here). Inside, townspeople are playing cards, smoking cigars, and drinking. The two Legionnaires sit at a table and order a round of drinks. One glances over at the corner of the room and spots a shady character sitting with his chair against the wall, a drink in his hand. Next to his feet was a large bag. As the barkeep placed their drinks down, the Legionnaire asked, "Hey, who is that in the corner?" "Don't know. Never got his name. 'Been here every night this week, though." The two cloaked figures finished their drinks and walked over to the mysterious figure in the corner. "Hey hat, who are you?" one asked, being the figure was wearing a brown hat. He was wearing a black trench coat, which he left unbuttoned. "Just a wanderer passing through," he replied. "Oh really? The barkeep says you've been here every night this week. What business do you have here?" "My business is my own." The Legionnaires threw the table over, knocking the drink out of his hand. "You'll answer our questions or else!" one shouted. All eyes were on the corner of the room. "Or else what?" the figure replied. The Legionnaires went for their blasters, but paused after two quick flashes and a 'shing' sound. All watched as a section of their cloaks tore, revealing shredded metal and crackling circuits, the mysterious wanderer behind them on one knee. They fell to the floor, and the figure lifted his head, revealing he was a red echidna with a black bandana covering his mouth.

He looked around at the silent spectators, who then began to leave in fear. The Legionnaires had tracker chips built into them. If they were to be killed or injured, the chips would let out a distress beacon. Before the barkeep could leave, the echidna grabbed him. "Wait. Tell me, where is the Great Forest?" The barkeep stopped pulling away and looked at him with widened eyes. "You mean…you're…" "Yes. I'm joining the resistance. The meeting is in two days. Please tell me where." "Thirty miles east of here. Go! Before others come. And God bless you." With this said, the echidna nodded and left.

Minutes later, Legionnaires stormed into the bar to discover their two comrades on the ground. A red echidna with a metallic claw and eye, wearing a dark cloak walked in. "Witnesses say it was a brown echidna female, general Kragok, sir," a Legionnaire said to him. "Hmmm…they aren't native to these parts. Probably part of the resistance. No matter. We will find her and crush her!" The barkeep sighed as soon as they had left. He could be executed for giving false information. He gave the lad a shot, now it was up to him.

From a nearby apartment, a group of teenagers saw the whole happening. "See? There are other people who will fight. Waddaya say, boys?" An armadillo asked. "I'm in," a chameleon said. "Me too," A crocodile said. "Don't forget me," a yellow squirrel said. "Then it's unanimous. We go and join the resistance. Pack your stuff, boys. Well leave tonight."

Mighty the Armadillo  
Espio the Chameleon  
Vector the Crocodile  
Ray the Squirrel

The Chaotix

We follow our echidna friend into the woods, where he is confronted by forest patrol. "Halt! Let's see some ID!" "I'll give you some ID," he replied as he got ready to fight. There was a rustling in the bushes, and eight figures jumped out and attacked the Legionnaires. After a few seconds, it was over. "Man that was fun!" "Yeah. Let's go find some more!" "Wait a tick, what about this guy?"

The one that had spoken was wearing some kind of armored suit. It was like a blue body suit with a red chest plate, red wrist cuffs, and a red helmet. The helmet had a long, horizontal green visor on it, and was topped off with a beanie, oddly enough.

DJ

The one he was talking to wore a white body suit with red shoulders, a blue torso, and a yellow belt. Blue gloves and boots covered his hands and feet. He had a blue headband on, which was tied behind his head as the ends hung behind him. He appeared to be young, with black, spiky hair with one curl in the middle of his hairline, soft blue eyes, and a reassuring smile.

Cap

This one was a bit shorter, with slicked back black hair that went down to above his shoulders. He wore basically the same outfit, except the colors were darker and a pair of goggles replaced the headband. In his hands he held two triangular blades that extended from his mid-forearm to about a foot ahead of his fists.

Swiper

The next one wore a green karate uniform, held with a karate belt, black lightweight shoes and wrist cuffs, and a long purple scarf. On his head was a mask that resembled a serpent, his face being the black, open mouth with two teeth hanging before his eyes.

Vipes

Another wore a white body suit. An ice-blue mask covered his face, and his blonde bowl cut hair flowed freely above it. His gloves and boots shared the same blue color, and starting from his shoulders, down to where his waist met his belt, a large triangle had the same blue color as well.

Freezie

The next wore a dark violet cloak, with a golden pendant holding it together below his neck. The area of his face above his nose was concealed in shadow, but his mouth and goatee were visible.

F.C.

Another guy's outfit had very little imagination to it. A blue body suit with a blue mask to hide his face.

Morph

The last one wore a dark gray cloak with tattered ends. His whole face was concealed in blackness. All that could be seen were his red eyes with his cat-like pupils, and a pentagon-shaped mouthpiece with three vertical slits in it.

Grim

The echidna stared at the eight humans who had defeated his opponents. "Hey! What's up, dawg?" "Dude, he is clearly an echidna." Freezie stated. "An echid-what?" "Shut up, DJ!" Grim shouted. One of them walked up to him and said, "Hey! I'm Cap. These are Grim, Freezie, Morph, F.C., Vipes, Swiper, and DJ. We're the Ravagers." "I'm sure you are. Now, I need to-" "Need a place to spend the night?" DJ asked. "No." "Wanna join up with us?" the one called Morph asked. "No. I work alone." "So do we!" DJ replied. "Dude, we're a team." Morph said. "We don't work with other teams." "DJ, nothing that comes outta your mouth makes any sense at all!" Grim growled. "Fish nipples." "SEE!" Grim shouted. Cap sighed, "I know, they're kinda…where'd he go?" They all looked to see that the echidna was gone. "Meh. Oh well. We musta been too cool for him!" DJ said. "Yeah. That's definitely it," Swiper sighed sarcastically. "I wonder who he was…" Vipes said. (For more info on my characters, the infamous Ravagers, check out my profile for their profiles)

Princess Sally looked proudly over the group that had assembled to fight for the cause. When she stood up, they all quieted down. "I am Princess Sally Acorn. Thank you all for coming. We are all gathered here to create a team. A team that will liberate our people. We all have our losses from the war, and we must fight back to reclaim our homes and families. We all have our special abilities and talents, so let us use them together to free our planet!" There was a cheer from all in the room, until all attention was turned to a late newcomer. Our echidna friend from earlier walked in, dripping wet from the rain outside. "Hey! It's that guy from the woods! Wassup, man?" DJ asked. "Oh God," the echidna muttered to himself. "Welcome! We're glad you've come to join us! Your name?" "Knuckles. Knuckles the Echidna."

Knuckles the Echidna (Duh)

"I'm…glad to see you. Now…we have one more member to introduce. She will provide us with inside information." Out of another door came a pink echidna. She was wearing a black tube top, black circular sunglasses, and a black bandana on her head. A belt with two blasters was secured loosely around her waist. One of her dreadlocks was cybernetic. "Meet Julie-Su."

Julie-Su the Echidna (Duh!!!)

Sally said. Knuckles growled as he pulled the bandana under his chin, threw his trench coat aside and drew up his fists. "She's a Legionnaire!" All he was wearing now was a brown belt that matched his hat. "EX-Legionnaire," Julie-Su replied, both her pistols pointed at him. "Knuckles, she's part of the team now. She quit the Legion and wants to help," Sally said. Knuckles growled and reluctantly lowered his fists. "Your kind can't be trusted. I have my eye on you. Just stay outta my way," he growled. "Same to you," Julie-Su said as she put her blasters back in their holsters.

"AAAnyway…We are Mobius' last hope for the future. We are…the Freedom Force of Mobius," Sally declared. "That…was corny," Freezie said. "Shut up," Swiper whispered. "No, really!" "I kinda agree," Vector replied. "No one asked you, Vec!" Espio scolded. "NOW…I think we should take at least one week to train before we officially begin operations," Sally said, regaining the attention of the room. "Why??? I'm prepped to blow stuff up now!" Grim asked. "Well, we need to learn to function as a team," Sally explained. "I don't need a team to blow something up! Watch, see that bush outside?…" he said as a fireball formed in his hand. "GRIM! NO!" Cap shouted as he grabbed Grim's arm. "What'd I tell you about blowing up random things?" "Uhhh…" "Don't do it!" "Dude! That was sooo cool! Do it again!" Mighty said. Sally sighed and said to herself, "May the Walkers help us."


	2. Cooperation, Please

COOPERATION PLEASE

"Alright you two. You have one minute to shut that thing down, or the missiles will be fired," Sally said over the walkie-talkie. "I hear ya. Me and Antoine are in position," Grim said. This mission involved the shutting down of twelve nuclear missiles. Standard. Grim and Antoine managed to make it into the silo, so it was up to them. All they had to do was destroy the main terminal…which was across the room…on the other side of a one hundred-foot drop. And since neither of them could fly…yeah. Not that Grim couldn't fire a fireball, but there were four targets. One was the main terminal, the others would detonate the missiles. And fate decided to put the terminals inches from each other. "Alright Antoine, what target do I need to hit." "Zat vun." "Uhhh…What?" "Zat vun!" "I don't speak German or French or whatever you speak!" "Heit zee bloo terminal!" "The what? Blue? They're all blue! What are you saying?" "Guys! You have ten seconds before home base is destroyed!" "Antoine!" "Shootz eet now!" "Please hit the right one!" Grim said to himself as he fired a fireball. Boom! The room began to shake as an alarm began to go off. "Crap," Grim said as the room faded away and training sequence ended. F.C. got up from his lotus position and shook his head. "Here I am, a mage in training, using his powers to cast images so you can fail simple training courses!" he muttered as he walked away. "Why didn't you tell me which one to hit?!?!" "I deed!" Grim walked off to get a drink, muttering under his breath, "'grumble' Stupid Frenchie… 'Grumble'" Antoine did the same.

Sally sighed. "Well…what do we need?" she asked aloud to no one in particular. Freezie, being a wise ass, replied, "Let's see…English lessons for Antoine and anger management for Grim. Does that cover everything?" "You forgot wise ass remarks," she replied back, glaring at him. "Right. Help Sally stop using wise ass remarks. Got it," he said, writing everything down on a pad. He then noticed Sally glaring and slowly crept away. "Alright. Who's next?" Mighty and Knuckles stepped up. "Okay, you need to make it through the obstacle course. I can't bear to watch home base blown up again," Sally sighed. "Well, they got things ready, so do you wanna…HEY," Mighty yelled as Knuckles ran onto the course without him.

Not far into the course, two large logs came swinging down from vines. Everyone tensed up when they saw a black trench coat get struck by one, but dropped their jaws in disbelief when they saw the echidna out of harm's way. When the second log came, he threw a powerful punch that cracked it straight down the middle, causing it to splinter out along the sides. He continued to run, until the ground crumbled beneath his feet. He quickly pulled a split, his feet securing him to the walls of the pit, and rolled himself back onto the ground. "That was classy," DJ stated. "Yeah. He's doing great," Sally said, "Nicole is reading minimal signs of fatigue." "Hmph," Sonic snorted. They were amazed as he flipped through the complex part of the course using acrobatic maneuvers. When he almost reached the end, a cable fired at him. 'Gotta think fast!' he said to himself as the cable fastened around him. Sonic chuckled. "Guess he's not so great after all." His jaw dropped when the cables suddenly loosened and he sliced them to shreds. "Perfect. Even Sonic didn't go through it so well!" Sally said as the others went over to the echidna, all except Sonic. "Show off."

"Dude! I thought the cable had you!" Ray said. "Yeah! How'd you do that?" Tails asked. Knuckles tilted his hat up and wiped some sweat from his brow. "I flexed my muscles. That way when I relaxed them, there's be some slack for me to cut through." "Man! That was so awesome! I never would have thought of that!" Tails exclaimed. Suddenly, Mighty came over huffing and puffing. "Not…'gasp'…bad…'pant, pant'…"

The whole week had been like this. Nobody seemed to mind, though. They were learning how to work together really well. Everyone was getting along pretty well. Except for Knuckles and Julie-Su. Knuckles hated her, and she disliked him for that reason alone. They occasionally exchanged glares, and that was it. As a matter of fact, Knuckles never spoke to anyone if he didn't have to.

Finally, the morning came where they would begin operations. Sally woke up to hear panting not far from her cabin. She looked outside to see Knuckles doing push ups. 'How long has he been up?' she wondered. He put on her usual blue vest and boots and walked out to him. "Hey Knuckles." "…Hey. 'Pant'…" "It's been a long time. We haven't talked in years." He finished his push-ups and wiped sweat off of his forehead. "Yeah. I know." "So why don't we catch up?" "I…I dunno…" "You know…I used to have a crush on you," she said with a giggle. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way," he said as he put his hat back on, "but…I've changed, Sal. I'm not the same guy anymore." She wasn't sure how to respond. All that came out was, "So what are you saying?" "Nothing. It's good to see you again, though," he said as he turned and left.

"Alright! We've worked hard, and now it's time to see what we can really do!" Sally announced. "Our mission is to take out an Legion ammunition factory. This way, we can cut down the amount of supplies they have. However, due to it's tight security system, we need to shut off the power by shutting down the generators in the nearby power plant," Sally explained. "Why not ask our EX-Legionnaire to turn off the security system?" Knuckles said. Julie-Su stood up and pointed one of her blasters at him, looking extremely ticked off. Knuckles shot her a menacing grin as he extended his hand and curled back his fingers three times as to say 'Bring it on'. "Go ahead. Give me a reason to take you out," he said. "Both of you calm down!" Sally shouted. The two echidnas growled and looked away from each other and back at Sally. "Thank you. Now, in order to sneak into the power plant, we need a small group to create a distraction. Any volunteers?" "I do!" Grim shouted, "I can see it now! A huge explosion that can be seen for miles! Fire spewing from the earth! It will be glorious! HA, HA, HA…uhhh." All eyes were staring at him as Cap shook his head in embarrassment. "Sorry," he muttered as he sat down. "Actually, that would be very effective…so I guess we could go with that, but-" "I won't let you down, princess!" Grim shouted, happy as a little schoolboy. "Alright, here are the other teams…"

The Dark Legion had recently acquired some swamplands where they could place an ammunition factory. If there was going to be a resistance, it would be crushed. A power plant, positioned five miles down river was used to power the facility. Outside, two Legionnaires discuss their thoughts about the evening. "Sure is cold." "Yeah, Jordan." "So how come we're stuck with patrol duty?" "I dunno, Xander. I guess we just have bad luck." "Yeah. Nothing exciting ever happens-" BOOM! A fiery explosion erupted into the sky, flames blazing. "What the Hell?!?!" "Man, we'd better run and find out what that was!"

Not far from there, Grim stood amidst his creation, laughing maniacally. "YES! I am the Lord of the Flame! Dance for me! Dance! HA, HA, HA, HA!" He was interrupted when his walkie-talkie began to relay Sally's message. "Get outta there before someone sees you, idiot!" "Uhhh…sorry." With this said, Grim ran off into the forest beside the swamp, awaiting commands.

Vipes and Espio used their ninja skills to sneak past the remaining guards and knock them out in order to let the others into the power plant. This team was Sonic, Sally, Tails, Espio, Vector, Rotor, Vipes, and Swiper. "Alright Tails, there's the main computer. Do your stuff," Sally said as she patted him on the back. He nodded and started typing away, breaking through firewalls and security systems. "Alright, I'm in. Shut down all power to the ammo factory…now!" The sound of turbines slowing down to a stop could be heard. "Good job, bud," Sonic said as he gave Tails a high-five." "Let's get out of here," Sally said as they all began to rush out. "I wonder how Morph and F.C. are doing distracting the guards?" Vector wondered.

"OH MY GOD!!!" a Legionnaire screamed as he fired his blaster at a tree, which swatted him away. The tree appeared to have a face on it, and was shouting, "The Ents are going to WAR! RUN!" Legionnaires were running away and trying to blast the stupid walking, talking tree. 'Nice job, Morph,' F.C. said telepathically. 'Thank you for the shield thingie you put over me, otherwise I'd be Swiss cheese. Back to acting!' "BEWARE!" 'Good thing we're getting this on tape. DJ'll love to see this.'

Cap, Mighty, Ray, Bunnie, Antoine, Cap, Knuckles, Freezie, Julie-Su, and DJ waited patiently until the lights went off around the factory. "Alright. Now how do we sneak past all the guards?" Ray asked. Bunnie noticed Knuckles taking off his hat. All he had on now was his belt, his gloves and his shoes. "What're ya doin', suga?" Bunnie asked as she watched him jump down into the mud of the swamp. They watched as he rubbed mud on himself until he was mostly covered. "Oh I see. Camouflage. Well just so you know, I'm not walking next to you on the way back," Freezie said. "Shut up and wait there. I'll be right back." As he left, Julie-Su growled and said, "No way am I waiting for that loser!" as she left, slowly creeping through the shrubs. The others sat there and pondered what to do. "Uh…what do we do?" "Let's stay here. Julie-Su can take care of herself," Mighty said. They did wait for a minute or so, until they saw Knuckles waving for them to come on. They quickly ran over and entered the complex. "Where's Julie-Su?" Cap asked Knuckles. "How should I know? Wasn't she with you?" "She was, but she went off to get inside." "Knuckles growled as he wiped some more mud off of himself. "Fine. Let's go on without her."

As they ran down the corridors, they were surprised how quiet it was. "Vhere are zee guards?" Antoine asked. "I handled them," Knuckles shot as they continued to run. Wondering what he meant, they stopped at their destination, the storage room. There was enough ammo to take them out in no time at all. A perfect powder keg. "Alright. Who's got the charges?" Cap asked. "Me," DJ answered. "Good. Set 'em," Ray replied. "Uh…I would…if I knew how to." All eyes widened as Knuckles began screaming at DJ. "You mean we came all this way and you can't set the freakin' charges?!?!" DJ slunk back and said, "Well hey, Julie-Su was supposed to set them." Knuckles growled and muttered, "Never trust a Legionnaire." DJ quickly took the charges apart and began to rewire them. "Okay. I got it. But we'll only have five minutes to get out instead of ten." "No prob," Freezie said. The timer started and they began to hurry out. "What about Julie-Su?" Mighty asked. "Good riddens to bad rubbish," Knuckles spat as he ran along side Mighty. They turned a corner and bumped right into Julie-Su, who was short of breath. "Where the Hell were you?" Knuckles shouted. "Finding a way inside!" "I said to wait!" As the echidnas began quarreling, Cap noticed the Legionnaires running towards them. "Uh…Let's RUN!!!" he shouted as he and Mighty tore the ground up, creating a shield. As they ran, a blast door began to fall! They ran as fast as they could, but Knuckles got trapped on the other side! "Open it up!" Cap shouted to Rotor, who began re-wiring the touch pad. DJ, using one of his visor-modes, was staring at the blast door. "He's still alive in there! Move!" Finally, the door opened and they got ready to attack. When it did open, though, they froze. Pieces were everywhere. A cybernetic arm here, a leg there. Bodies all over the room. And standing in the center was Knuckles, with his gloves off, revealing two sinister spurs on each hand. "Dude…" Mighty muttered as Knuckles shouted, "Let's go!"

Sally and the others were waiting nervously for the others to arrive at the meeting point. "Where are they? They should have been here by now," Sally said, growing worried. Suddenly, the others came bursting out of the woods, huffing and puffing. "What happened?" Tails asked. "Long…story," was Mighty's reply. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion off behind them. Everyone took cover as Grim stood there, twinkly-eyed, "Wooooooooooow." All glanced over at him with a raised brow. When the rumbling from the explosion had stopped, Sally asked, "Where's Knuckles?" The others jumped and looked around. "I though he was coming behind us! Oh no!" Ray shouted. Suddenly, there was a clicking sound, and they turned to see two Legionnaires pointing their rifles at them.

"Whaddaya know, Xander? We get patrol duty and capture the whole resistance group. Pretty nice." "Yeah." The others stared at the two Legionnaires. Sonic was getting ready to make his move, when one of the Legionnaires dropped his rifle and fell to the ground, dead. "Xander?" the other asked, before someone grabbed his head and snapped his neck. The others watched in horror as these events unfolded, and were even more horrified at the fact that their ally, Knuckles, had been the killer. He spat on the ground next to him as he panted heavily. He could tell by the look in Sally's eyes they had a long talk ahead of them.

Knothole (a.k.a. Home Base)

"How could you do that?!?!" Sally yelled. Everyone sat around the room, watching as Sally screamed at Knuckles. "I don't understand how you could do something so…brutal!" "They're nothing but monsters! They'd do the same to you in an instant! If you wanna beat them, you gotta play rough!" "You are out of control!!!" "What about her," Knuckles said as he pointed to Julie-Su, "She was the only one who knew how to set the charges, and she just 'happens' to leave without them! She's a spy!" "Piss off!" Julie-Su shouted. "I'll take you out as easily as I took out your friends!" Sally stood in between them and shouted, "Enough you two!" Knuckles growled as he grabbed his hat and belt. "Where are you going?" Sally demanded. "Wherever I want!" "I don't understand, Knuckles! What do you have against Julie-Su? Against the Legionnaires?" Knuckles spun around and shouted, "They're a bunch of murdering monsters! I hate all of them!!! Every single one!!!" With that said, he left as the others stood in silence. Sally sighed and sat down. "I knew him before this…when he was a little kid. He was…the kindest, sweetest guy I had ever know. What happened to him?" she said as a tear rolled down her eye.

Out in the woods, Knuckles slowly waded into the nearby river to wash the rest of the mud off. As he did so, he growled as he thought of Sally, talking to him like that. Him! The one that saved their lives! He was furious. He got out and dried himself off, muttering things about the others being ignorant and stupid. And that hedgehog. He thought of himself as God's gift to Mobius. All week he had been mocking Knuckles behind his back. Coward. No matter. He slipped his shoes and gloves back on and began to walk back to Knothole, throwing on his trench coat, placing his hat on his head and strapping his belt on. On the way back, he heard something and spun around. "Who's there?" No answer. Sweat dripped from his forehead. 'No. Not again!' _"Knuckles! Help!" "Guardian!"_ He put his hands over his ears trying to drown it out, to no avail. "Please! Stop it!" he begged, falling to his knees, his hands over his head. People shouting, a woman screaming above everyone else, a baby crying, a sinister laugh that chilled him to the bone. Tears started streaming from his eyes. "Please…make it stop…" he said weakly, his voice cracking. Slowly, the voices faded out, and he was alone again. Alone.

**Author's Note:** So whaddaya think? Tell me your likes and dislikes. I will find the likes to be complementary and the dislikes…well, I'll see what I can do to make things suite you (without completely warping my whole story). Next we'll be seeing more madness, more stupidity, and more action. Perhaps we'll also get to find out more about the creepy voices in Knux's head. Midterms coming up, so expect a little…delay. Until then, L8r!


	3. Moving On

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to get this up. Mid terms slowed things down A LOT! Hate 'em. However, I did manage to get this chapter together, and I'm already working on the next one. Enjoy!

Moving on…

The sun had just begun to rise over the mountains and shed its light into the Great Forest. The townspeople were beginning to rise and begin their morning routines. However, in one hut, one figure had not yet arisen. Tossing and turning, sweat poured from his forehead as horrible memories haunted his dreams. "No…no…NO!" Knuckles yelled as he shot up out of bed. He panted heavily as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Another night of torture. He turned his head when a knocking came at the door and said, "Come in," as he got out of bed. An elderly female squirrel came in and said, "Hello. It's Rosie. Just here to get the sheets." "Uhh...they're here," he mumbled in reply. "Are you okay? You sound awful, dear." "I'm fine." Deciding to change the subject, she said, "You'd better get down there and eat before it's all gone." "Okay. Thank you," he said as he tipped his hat, strapped on his belt and walked out. Rosie glanced at the sheets and placed her hand down on them. They were damp with sweat. Every morning they were like this. 'Perhaps I should bring this to Sally's attention. It may be important in some way.'

"Bring 'em on!" Sonic shouted as the next round of pancakes came in. As soon as the plates were dropped before them, Sonic, Mighty, Vector and Morph began eating. "My money's on Mighty!" "Mine's on Sonic!" "Morph has this all wrapped up!" They all finished and grabbed their stomachs, groaning in pain. Vetor laid his head down, defeated. "C'mon, Mighty! One more plate!" Espio yelled. Mighty grabbed his fork, and slowly ate the food in front of him. Sonic took a bite and dropped his head onto the syrupy pancakes. "He's out!" "C'mon, Morph!" Morph glanced at the plate stretched his mouth widely and swallowed it all in one bite. Mighty stared with widened eyes, before dropping his head. "YEAH!" Morph yelled, before falling over.

"Boys can be so stupid," Bunnie said. "Yeah, "Julie-Su replied. "Only we can have sophisticated conversations," Sally commented. "So what's going on with you?" Julie-Su asked Sally. "Oh, I'm just fine. Everything's normal. I'm just a little nervous about our next mission. It won't be easy." "When ah they eva?" Bunnie commented with a chuckle. "Too true. What about you, Julie-Su? Are you enjoying living here?" Sally asked. "Well, it's better than what I'm used to. It's like I'm in a four-star hotel now. We used to sleep on concrete beds and have to eat semi-warm food in the mornings. Food wasn't even real," she said. "Like the cafeteria food back home," DJ said to Swiper. "Yeah. How did they expect us to eat that garbage?" "'Sigh'…Boys," Sally groaned.

The three females turned to the door a few feet away from them as Knuckles walked in. He looked terrible. "Knuckles, are you okay?" Sally asked. "I'm…I'm fine. Just a rough night," he said as he went to discover there was no food left. Sally was aggravated by this and stood up. "Come on, guys! You had your stupid contest and now there's no food for Knuckles!" They all looked very shameful and lowered their heads. "Don't let it bother you. I'm fine," Knuckles said as he walked outside. Bunnie peered out the window to see him pick an apple from a nearby tree and begin to eat it. "He's the one I don't get. All the other guys are either morons, thick-headed, or slightly psychotic. Him…he's kinda…" "Creepy," Bunnie said. "I think he's a big jerk," Julie-Su commented. Sally looked over at her and said, "I know he's been rough on you, but maybe he just needs to know you." "Oh yeah. Like I'd wanna know a guy like him. He makes my skin crawl," she replied before taking a sip of her juice.

"Okay. It's time for our second major mission. This time, we need to take control of a frigate and" "Wait! We're trying to take control of a what?" Sonic asked. "A frigate," Sally repeated, a little annoyed at his lack of knowledge. "And…that is…?" Sally's shoulders drooped as she said, "A ship. A big ship." "Watch your language in front of Tails!" DJ shouted. Sally shot a death-glare at him and he slowly slunk back. (Input the implied word in place of ship and have a good laugh) "Robotnik is dealing new tech with Dimitri. Weapons that could bring the resistance to its knees. We need to stop that vessel from reaching the harbor." "So why not have someone blast it from a distance? Like me? With fire," Grim suggested. "No. No fire." "Why?" he complained. "Because we don't want a huge explosion that would attract unwanted guests." "Oh, so this is a Solid Snake: sneaky mission rather than Master Chief: bang mission?" Swiper asked. Sally stared at him and finally said. Yes, whatever." "Cool. Maybe we'll get to sneak around in a box!" Swiper said to Morph, who gave him a thumbs-up.

"Alright. Get to the jet and let's go," Sally ordered. "Uhhh…about that…" Rotor muttered. "What?" Tails stood up and said, "Well….we were working on it, trying to fix the bugs and all, and…" "You broke it," Sally sighed. "Not broke as in gone, broke as in 'out of order' broke," DJ said. "Our three ace mechanics. Brilliant. The harbor is fifty miles away. I'm not letting Sonic and Freezie do this alone. What do we do?" F.C. stood up and said, "Well…err…I am a mage. I do know how to 'teleport'." "What makes you a mage?" Espio asked. "Yeah," Ray insisted. "Well, check it out," he said as he showed off his goatee. "I got this hair for floatation, and this one for" "That's disgusting. I didn't think magic worked that way," Julie-Su said with a disgusted face. "Oh yeah. It's all in the beard." "Notice how his is so small," Vipes pointed out. "Shut up!" F.C. spat.

They gathered outside in a circle as F.C. began to chant. "Just relax." There was a bright light around them, and in a flash they were gone. The harbor was foggy that night. You couldn't see anything. The Legionnaires patrolled the docks as best they could, not noticing the Freedom Force appearing in the rugged hills above them. "It worked! Say, is it just me or is it real breezy?" Cap asked. "Yeah. What's…? AHHH!" Grim whispered, trying not to give away their position. The Ravagers looked down to see that their pants were missing. Nothing but boxers. "Grim…are those the boxers DJ got you last Christmas? The ones you swore you'd never wear?" Morph asked. "Uhhh…I can explain," Grim began. "Well, at least we still have our boxers." "Heh. At least I decided to _wear_ boxers!" DJ said. "More information than is needed," Sally said, disgusted.

"Where are our pants?" Cap asked F.C.. "Well…if I'm correct…they're floating in the space-time continuum." "Isn't that bad?" "…Yes." "So you're saying that all of time and space…all the cosmos….can be destroyed…by our pants?" "Well…maybe…" "Oh great. We won't be killed by Robotnik OR Dimitri. We'll be killed by our own pants!" Grim growled. Suddenly, there was a horn. They looked out to see the ship out in the water. It was heavily armed with cannons on the deck and sides. "Any idea how to get onboard?" Ray asked Sally, who shook her head as she pulled out her binoculars. "There are only a few swat bots…If we could get someone onto the deck, we could…" She glanced down the side of the hill to see Knuckles wading into the water. "What are you doing?" she whispered. "Taking a swim," he replied as he got into the cold water. Sally watched as he swam over, crept onto the deck, and slashed the swat bots. "How do WE get onto the ship?" Vector asked. "Yeah. I don't feel like taking a swim," Sonic said. Morph got down by the water, and they watched in awe as he slowly changed shape, and took the form of a small boat. "I can take four at a time, so hurry up!" he said as four of them got on. "I'll put the motor on low," he whispered. "What motor?" Sally asked. "You can say it's…uhhh…gas powered." They looked behind the boat and saw bubbles forming on the surface of the water. "This is gonna kill SOOO many fish," Mighty said.

Eventually, at the cost of the lives of many fish, the Freedom Force boarded the Robotnik frigate. "Where to?" Espio asked. "Zee layout seiz zat zee weapons are down zee stairs," Antoine said. Quickly and quietly, they snuck down to a lower level of the ship. The ship creaked as they crept through the crate-filled room, until Nicole, Sally's A.I. handheld computer, started beeping. "This is the room," Sally said. Cap looked at the boxes and decided to open one. "Let's see what…uhhh guys?" he said as they came over to see the crate was empty. "Empty?" Tails said. "They all are. I'm not picking up anything on my scanners," DJ replied. "Then…this was a trap!" Sonic shouted. Suddenly, a thunderous laugh boomed through the ship. A screen flickered, and the face of Robotnik appeared on it. "Ha! You fools! Did you believe I would let such classified information slip out so easily? Do you? Well, now you will pay for your insolence and die!" The ship rumbled, and they could hear the rushing of water below them. "RUN!" someone shouted. They all hurried back up the stairs as water came rushing behind them. As they rushed down the hallways, gun turrets popped out of the walls and began to fire at them. "Split up!" Sally shouted as they began to run down different hallways. Sally was running when she slipped in the wet hallway. She groaned as looked up to see a blast door coming down on top of her. She closed her eyes, only to be pulled away by someone. She opened her eyes to see Knuckles. "Sorry. That was cutting it close," he said. "But we're trapped on this side of the door! What'll we do?" "I don't know. C'mon!" he shouted.

The others managed to meet at an intersection, and looked frantically for their two comrades. "Where are they?" Sonic shouted, "Nothing is gonna stop me from finding her!" "What about a wall of water!" Freezie shouted. "F.C.! Voo-doo time!" Mighty shouted. "It's not voo-doo! It's…" "Never mind! Just make with the hocus pocus!" DJ shouted. F.C.'s hands began to glow as he outstretched his arms and shouted, "ALMETHRAP!" The water continued to come, so he shouted, "ALMEDRAP!" The water was about forty feet away, and he tried, "ALME-CRAPPP!" as the water hit them and launched them out the door, skidding them across the water and back to shore. "What…the hell…was that!" Julie-Su shouted at F.C.. "That…was me messing up another spell." "What about Sal and Red!" Tails shouted as the ship began to rapidly sink.

"It's over," Sally sighed. She never felt so weak in her life. She was going to die a horrible death by drowning. "Don't say that! We'll make it out! Just…" "It's over. The resistance is going to fail. We'll slowly be picked off until no one is left. It was all a waste of time!" Knuckles grabbed her and shook her. "Snap out of it, Sal! I swear to God, I am going to get us out! I can't afford to die here! Neither can you!" She stared at him with watery eyes as he began to feel the wall. "I can punch us out here. Take this," he said as he took a small device out of his belt. "It's an air necklace. It breaks down the water, removing the hydrogen atoms and leaving plain oxygen." "What about you?" she asked. "I can hold my breath longer. When I say now, jump out and swim as fast as you can, and don't look back!" She got ready as he drew up his fist and shouted "NOW" as he threw a punch that ripped a hole in the hull of the sip and caused water to rush in. They both jumped out and began to swim as fast as they could towards the surface. 'Almost there…' Knuckles thought to himself as his lungs tightened. As the ship hit the bottom, a large fragment ricocheted up and struck Knuckles in the head, knocking him out cold. Sally didn't see as he slowly floated downward into the darkness. However, his hat slowly floated upward towards the surface.

Morph had reformed into a larger vessel than before, fitting them all, and drove them over the ship's last position. "Where ah they!" Bunnie shouted. Suddenly, Sally broke the surface and began gasping. Bunnie stretched out her mechanical arm and quickly pulled her onboard of Morph. "Sally! You're okay! Hey….where's Knuckles?" Mighty asked. "Oh my God! He was right behind me! It's all my fault! I knew he couldn't hold his breath that long!" she sobbed as she started crying. Julie-Su looked overboard and saw a familiar hat bob up out of the water. 'Something must have happened!' she thought to herself as she kicked off her boots and jumped into the water.

It wasn't too long until she reached him. He almost made it to the surface. She put her arm around him and began to pull him up, and noticed his head was slightly bleeding. She broke surface and pulled his head above the water. Bunnie pulled them in as she had with Sally, and they laid his limp body on the deck. "Oh my God! He's not breathing!" Rotor shouted. "Give me room!" Julie-Su shouted as she began to apply mouth to mouth resuscitation. "This is no time to live out your perverted fantasies!" Vector shouted. "Idiot! She's giving him air!" Espio shouted as he slapped the back of Vector's head. Julie-Su continued to press down on his chest and breathe into his mouth until his body finally twitched and he began couching up the water that had filled his lungs. He started gasping for air as he slowly sat up and opened his eyes, glancing at Julie-Su who was kneeling beside him. "Y-You…" "Yeah, me. Funny thing, huh?" He slowly got to his feet, looked over the side of the ship, and jumped off. "What the hell are you doing!" Sonic shouted, only to see the echidna climbing aboard again with his wet hat. "You and that damned hat!" Sally said as she threw her arms around him, crying, causing him to stumble a bit. Cap smiled and looked to the front of the boat. "Mr. Morph, full speed home." "Aye, aye, captain!" Morph replied as he turned in the direction of home.

As they sat, DJ stood up and said, "How about a sea song?" Mighty shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why not?" "Juuuuuuuuuust sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful trip," DJ began, causing the other guys to join in clapping and singing, "That started on this tropic port aboard this tiny ship!" As the others were singing, Knuckles glanced over at Julie-Su and took a deep breath. He stood up and walked over to her and said, "Hey." "Oh. Hey." They were rather silent for a minute or two, until he finally said, "I…I want to thank you….for saving me. I'm grateful." "A 'thank you' from you? I'm honored." "You should be. This doesn't change anything. I'm still keeping my eye on you," he said. "Just watch where those eyes are peeking," she replied. To her great surprise, his face turned a bright red. She chuckled and said, "You're blushing. That's kinda cute." He turned even redder and quickly left. When he did, she couldn't help but smile to herself and think, 'Maybe getting to know him wouldn't be_ so_ bad.'


	4. So This Is The Floating Island

Author's Note: I am SOOOO sorry it took me so long to get these chapters up! Too much happening too fast on my end. To make up for it, the next chapter is a bit longer than the usual length of four pages. Hope that makes up for it, and please don't hate me!

So this is the Floating Island…

Knuckles gasped as he arose from another uncomfortable slumber. He wiped the tears from his eyes and got out of bed. Every night the same nightmare, the same horrible memory. Every day the guilt grew worse and worse. How long would it last? Probably forever. The images would never leave his mind. He strapped on his belt and threw on his hat as he left his hut, unaware of what the day would soon bring.

It was a day of rest. The last mission had left them rather weary, and a break was needed. Some took the time to have fun, others to just shoot the breeze and hang out. As the day came to a close, however, it was back to business as usual. "Freedom Force, it is at this time that we need to unite ourselves with other resistance groups and establish alliances," Sally said as they ate their dinner, "We will be taking a trip over to the Floating Island to negotiate with the resistance movement there. Knuckles knows the area, so we should have no trouble, right Knuckles?" They all looked at him and noticed that he had stopped eating. He pushed his plate forward, sighed as he got up, and said, "Yeah. No trouble," as he left the room. They all looked at each other, wondering what was wrong with him. "I figured he might be happy to see home again. It's like he doesn't want to go back," Sally said. "The guy's a weirdo if you ask me," Sonic said, ignoring the echidna's previous departure.

Out in the woods, Knuckles slowly walked, staring at the ground. Go home? How could he? After all that had happened…he figured he wouldn't return until he had done what he had set out to do. His secret objective. Deep down, he was merely using the resistance to achieve his own personal goals, which remain to be discovered. The snapping of a twig made him jump to attention. He threw his arm back and blocked an oncoming kick. He found himself under attack from a barrage of punched and kicks. However, he was able to keep up with his opponent's great speed and eventually land a lucky shot. When his opponent hit the ground, he saw it was a black hedgehog with red eyes and streaks in his quills of the same color. Knuckles reached out his hand and said, "Nice try, Shadow." They both began to chuckle as Knuckles helped him up. They shook hands and Knuckles said, "How are you, old friend?" "I find myself passing by quite well. You?" "Same as usual" "The dreams, still?" Knuckles nodded and Shadow sighed. "You must not blame yourself for things you couldn't control." "I know, but-" Suddenly, Mighty's voice rang through the woods. "Knuckles! Where are you?" "They are looking for you, so I will take my leave." "Until we meet again," Knuckles said with a smile as he left. Not a second after, the black hedgehog dashed away.

Mighty looked around him and saw that the echidna was nowhere in sight. He sighed and turned to leave, when he heard a rustling in the bushes. He turned around, only to see Knuckles. "Yes?" the echidna asked. Mighty smiled and said, "Uh…What's up?" Knuckles gave Mighty a curious look. He called for him to ask a question like that? "Nothing. If you're worrying about me, don't. I never said I wouldn't go to the Island. I…was just surprised." Mighty could tell right away that something about the island bothered him. "Anyway, I also wanted to tell you that we're leaving in an hour. We figured we'd travel overnight and get there early." Knuckles nodded, and said, "Fine. See you then." Mighty slowly nodded, and began to leave. He could tell by the way the echidna was staring that he wanted to be alone. When Knuckles had lost sight of the armadillo, he pulled out a locket. It was a golden half-circle with a gold chain. He opened it and stared at the picture inside with watery eyes. He closed it and grasped it tightly, holding it over his heart as a tear slid down his cheek. 'I won't fail you, too. I promise.'

"We present to you…the rebuilt and refurnished jet!" DJ shouted as they stared at it. It wasn't the most glamorous thing in the world, but then again, Knothole was a bunch of huts in the middle of the woods. You could clearly see where missing sidings were patched up; being that the paint job was incomplete. It's tough when you're limited on supplies. "Um…good job?" Espio said to Tails, Rotor and DJ. "If you like this, wait 'til you get inside!" DJ said, either missing or ignoring the sarcasm, speaking with great enthusiasm. They peered inside and were amazed. It was worse on the inside than the outside. Cords were hanging from the walls and ceiling, and the seat cushions were ripped. "You really outdid yourselves," Sally said with a sigh, "You shouldn't have spent so much time working." "Ha. But we did," DJ answered, turning to Tails and Rotor, "Present wrenches!" The three mechanics pulled out a wrench each and held them up in a triangular formation. "Mine's the monkey wrench," DJ commented. "Yeah. You're dumb as a monkey," Vector said. "If monkeys are so dumb, how come they discovered how to peel bananas?" "They didn't. And they don't."

Knuckles walked onto the ship and glanced around with a raised brow. "Alright, everyone seated?" Sally asked. She then noticed Knuckles and told him to take a seat. He looked back and noticed that the only chair left was the one next to Julie-Su. He groaned as he walked back and asked to sit down. "If you must," was her reply. The jet rumbled and shook as it took off, and with crossed fingers, Sally steered it forward. "She lives!" Rotor shouted.

Not long after, it became very dark out. One by one, the passengers fell asleep. Rotor, who had taken over for Sally, activated the autopilot and set the course for the Floating Island. Eventually, he too fell asleep. All were dead to the world, with the exception of two echidnas.

"So…What's it like on your island?" Julie-Su asked, breaking the eerie silence. "Like paradise." "So why did you ever leave?" He didn't bother to answer. They sat in silence for a few moments, until she glance over at him. He seemed like he was very tired. "You ever gonna sleep?" she asked. "I don't sleep well," he said, "You?" "No. I'm not too tired yet." He yawned, placing one hand over his mouth, and stretching the arm next to her over his head. Expecting him to put his arm around her, she drew one of her blasters and pointed it at him, "Watch it!" He turned to her and said, "Woah! What's your problem!" "Like you don't know! That's the oldest move in the book!" "What are you talking about? What move? What'd I do?" For some reason, she could tell he was sincere, and lowered her blaster. "So you weren't trying to put your arm around me?" He turned bright red and said, "No! Why would I do that?" She smiled and said, "Fine, fine. I'm sorry." "Yeesh." Another period of silence occurred, until she finally yawned. "So now you're tired?" he asked. "Just…a little," she replied, a bit dazed. "Well, maybe I can get you a pillow or…or…" he began, until she slowly drifted off to sleep, resting her head on his shoulder. He blushed, but was afraid to move. She was smiling pleasantly, and he didn't want to disturb her. For some reason, he smiled as he looked down at her, closed his eyes, and rested his head on hers as he drifted off to sleep.

Sally opened her eyes as she heard the landing gear touch the ground. She let out a yawn and stretched her arms as she stood up. A few of the others began to stir, exchanging 'good mornings'. It was then that Bunnie chuckled and said, "Heh. Well git a load 'a them." Sally turned to see Julie-Su and Knuckles still asleep, leaning against one another as they had during the night. "Awww. They look so cute," Sally said. "Too bad we gotta wake 'em up. Hey love-birds! Rise and shine!" Sonic shouted. The two echidna's stirred, looked at the others, and then hopped up onto their feet, blushing. "Um…Sorry, I…" Knuckles began. "It's uh…it's okay…uh…" she replied, tilting her black shades up. Sally glared at Sonic for being so rude. Sometimes she just hated him. He was one of the most ignorant people she had ever met. Why then did she have some strange attraction to him? As Knuckles stepped off the jet, something hit him. The nightmare! He hadn't had it! But why? What had been different? He turned and looked a Julie-Su, who adjusted her black bandana on her head. Was it something to do with her? Maybe…

They began a trek through the jungle, Knuckles leading the way. He stopped under a large tree and began to climb it. "What are you doing?" Sonic asked, thinking the echidna was a moron. Suddenly, a strange fruit came down and struck him on the head. The others laughed as Sonic rubbed the top of his head, cursing under his breath. Knuckles tossed down a few fruits until everyone had one, and then slid down on a vine with a fruit of his own. "Oh I'm sorry. Did that one hit you?" Knuckles said to Sonic with a wicked grin. Sonic growled in frustration. He hated looking bad, or being looked down upon, and both were taking place at the moment. He hated Knuckles. He kept making Sonic look like a fool in front of everyone. Sonic was the hero of Knothole, and then this echidna shows up and makes him look like a joke. He hated him.

They quickly ate and continued on their way. Knuckles pointed out a few landmarks as they went, and the others took complete fascination. That was…enough for Sonic. "I'm scouting ahead," the hedgehog said as he took a step forward, ready to use his speed. "I wouldn't do that. Stick with me and you'll be fine," Knuckles said. "I don't need you for anything," Sonic grunted back before he sped off.

Sonic didn't need Knuckles at all. This was easy. He ducked under branches, jumped over logs and bushes…he was fine. He had gone about half a mile before getting snagged in a trip line and getting stuck in a net. He struggled to get free, but couldn't. Finally, he used his trademark Sonic Spin to cut loose, only to find himself surrounded by echidnas with blasters. There was too many of them and not enough room to move around. He was trapped.

"Stand down, men," a familiar voice said. Sonic turned to see Knuckles and the others coming though the brush. "Guardian!" the echidnas gasped, lowering their weapons, and not taking their eyes off of Knuckles. "He's with me…unfortunately," Knuckles said as he walked over to Sonic. He looked the hedgehog in the eye and said, "I suggest you listen to me. The Legion is here, too. You're lucky you ran into the EST and not them, or I'd leave you to rot. So I suggest you sit tight, or I'll break one of your legs so you have to!" the echidna growled. For some reason, Sonic was scared. Perhaps it was the tone of the echidna's voice, or the fiery intensity of his violet eyes that let Sonic know that Knuckles meant business. Knuckles then turned his attention back to the echidnas and asked, "Could one of you take me to Constable Remington?" One of them nodded and began to lead them through the woods. As Sally passed Sonic while following, she shot him a glare and said, "You and I are going to have a LONG conversation later, concerning your attitude."

After a bit of a walk, they found themselves entering a city. Most of it was in good condition, but there were other buildings, especially on the outer rim, that were in ruins. As they walked down the streets, they noticed all the echidnas stopping to look at Knuckles as he walked by. Either he was trying to ignore it, or he just didn't notice. Either way, he didn't look at them. Just at the road ahead. Finally, they approached a building with a large EST on it, with the top of the E broken off. Before they could enter, another echidna ran out. He was brown, with a tan hat, similar to Knuckles', and a green jacket. "Guardian!" he said in joy and he and Knuckles shook hands, "We haven't heard from you in months! We feared for the worst!" "I'm fine, Remmy. How have things been here?" "We haven't had too many tangles with the Legion in a while, actually. Dimitri seems to be averting his attention elsewhere." Knuckles' eyes narrowed at the mention of that name. Remington placed his hand on the young echidna's shoulder and said, "I know what you have lost. He will pay." "I know," Knuckles muttered.

Remington's eyes looked over Knuckles' shoulder and narrowed. "What have we here? A prisoner?" Knuckles turned around and saw he was looking at Julie-Su. He could see she was hurt by this, but didn't want to show it. "I trust her for the most part, so you should show her the same respect you show everyone else," Knuckles said with a slight smile. Her head lifted and she lowered her shades to look at him. Why was he defending her?

Knuckles and Remington arranged a meeting with the high counselors in order to discuss negotiations, and in the meantime, arranged lounging for the visitors. As before, the citizens stared with smiles as Knuckles walked by. It was like he was some kind of hero here. As they walked, he stopped at the sound of a small voice crying. The others stopped as he walked over to a little echidna girl on a stoop and stopped in front of her. He bent his knees so he could get down to her level and said, "Hey. What's wrong?" The little girl looked up and said, "The black-ack m-monsters killed my d-daddy." "Where's your mommy?" he asked in a soft voice. "Working in the factory." "Your daddy must have been proud of you. You're a very pretty little girl." "Th-thank you m-mister Guardian s-sir." "You're welcome," he said as he put his hands on the side of her face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs, "There now. All better. Don't worry about the black monsters anymore. I'll take care of them for you." She stepped over and hugged him, and he hugged her back. "Y-you promise?" "I promise." "What about that one?" she asked. Knuckles turned around to see that she was pointing at Julie-Su. The pink echidna's eyes filled with tears as she stared at the little girl. She was ashamed. "She…she isn't one of them anymore. She's gonna help us," Knuckles explained. "But what if she's lying?" Knuckles wasn't sure how to respond for a moment. Finally, he said, "Hey. You trust me, right?" the little girl nodded, and he replied, "Then everything will be okay. She's helping." She nodded and hugged him again. He kissed the top of her head and said, "Now go and play with your friends. Everything will be fine." "Okay," she replied as she got up and walked off.

He watched her leave and sighed. Finally, he turned to the others, who were giving him a strange look. "What?" Sally smiled and said, "Who knew you were such a sweetheart? That was so nice of you." He blushed for a moment, and then looked around, as if he were searching for something. "What is it?" Tails asked. Then turned in the direction he was facing to see Julie-Su walking off on her own. They called after her, but she didn't answer. Knuckles let out an aggravated sigh and said, "Give me a minute," as he jogged after her.

Julie-Su finally stopped when she had left the city and was at the edge of the forest. She looked out at the sunset and sighed. As she walked, she had noticed how everyone was staring at her. No one cared that she was helping. She was only seen as an enemy. Even that poor little girl was suspicious of her. 'Maybe I don't belong here after all…' She heard someone behind her and spun around to see Knuckles. "Uh...Hey." "Oh…It's you." "He was quiet for the first few seconds, then finally said, "Listen…about what that girl said…don't worry about it. Forget it. She's just scared. Nothing against you." His words brought her no comfort, and she lowered her head and sighed. "I feel like a monster. Like I really don't belong with the rest of you," she said, leaning against a tree. He stared for a moment, sighed, then turned and looked at the city. "I've felt the same way, sometimes. I guess it's my own fault. I don't try to get cozy with anyone. I just…remain alone." She looked up at him, then said, "I guess we both have our problems." "Yeah," he replied, not turning back to her. "At least you know where you belong. Your home is here. Me? I don't know what home is." There was a short silence, until she said, "Knuckles…I'm sorry." "For what?" he asked as he began to turn around, only to be pistol-whipped in the back of the head. She caught him as he fell, and slowly laid him on the ground. She looked at him for a minute and thought, 'I think we got off on the wrong foot. You really aren't a bad guy at all, are you? …Guess I'll never know.' With this finally though, she whispered "Goodbye" and walked off into the darkness of the forest.


	5. Pasts Revealed

Pasts Revealed

Knuckles groaned as he slowly sat up. He rubbed the back of his head and mumbled. Suddenly, it hit him. She had hit him. Knocked him out and left him. But why? He stood up, feeling a little dizzy, and leaned against a tree. 'She did it, didn't she? She went back…' He couldn't believe it. He had begun to trust her, and she turned out to be a traitor after all. He growled in frustration for letting himself become soft on her and letting his guard down. He punched the tree in his anger, causing the leaves to rustle. He calmed down when something else dawned upon him. 'Why did she leave me here? Why not kill me? Or at least even take me prisoner? Why did she go alone?' Something was up. He couldn't figure it out, but he knew something was wrong with this picture. He shook the dizziness off and stood firmly on the ground. 'I gotta find out what's up,' he thought to himself as he ran into the woods, following her trail.

Back in the city, Sally stared out the window as the guys played poker. Knuckles and Julie-Su had been gone for a very long time now. She turned to the others and said, "They aren't back yet." "Probably aren't finished makin' out," Sonic said as he threw in his chips. Sally glared at him, stood up and walked over to him, and slapped him across the face. The other guys dropped their cards and their jaws as they stared wide-eyed at Sally. "You have a lot of nerve insulting someone behind their back! You are the rudest…most arrogant person I've ever met!" She growled as she left the room, leaving the others in silence. Bunnie went after her, but the guys remained behind. They glanced at one another every so often, then looked back at the ground. Finally, Vipes asked, "Did it hurt?" "…Yeah," Sonic replied, rubbing his cheek. "I hate to say it, but it serves you right. You never see us talking about people behind their backs," Rotor commented. "Yeah! We never talk about Grim's hot sister behind his back! We say she's hot right in his face," DJ said. Grim growled in frustration, but immediately tried to calm himself. 'Just relax. He's trying to get a rise out of you…' "And let me tell you…she is HOT!" DJ said. 'And it's WORKING!' "Get over here you little-" Grim shouted as he began to chase after DJ down the hall. The glanced at the door for a moment, until Mighty asked, "Grim has a hot sister?"

Knuckles crawled on his stomach under the brush until he was right next to the Legionnaire encampment. His instincts told him to stealthily sneak in and take them all out. He suddenly heard someone grunt in pain, and crawled over to the tent beside him. He peered in through a small opening in the side of the tent, and was shocked at what he saw. There was a red female echidna, wearing a black leather outfit, and standing in front of her was Julie-Su, with two legionnaires holding her arms back. "Now I'll ask you again…What do you know?" the red female demanded. "I told you! I don't-" Slap! Julie-Su was struck right across the face. Her black shades fell to the floor and cracked. "I'm telling the truth!" Now the red female came up with another slap across the face. Then another, and another. "Don't lie to me you little wench!" Knuckles wasn't sure just how to react. "I don't know why Dimitri even bothers with you! You are the most worthless piece of crap I've ever seen! Why he puts up with your disgracefulness is beyond me." Julie-Su looked at her, and said, "I don't know why he puts up with you. You've got the biggest mouth I've-uhhh!" Julie-Su moaned as the red female punched her in the gut, her eyes widening in pain. The red echidna continued to punch and slap her, until Julie-Su hung limply, only held up by her arms. "Drop her," the echidna commanded. The two legionnaires dropped her and watched as Julie-Su was kicked while she was on the ground, not saying a word or trying to stop it. Knuckles ground his teeth, and was about to do something, when the echidna stopped and spat on Julie-Su's face. "Ugly piece of trash. Throw this tramp out," she commanded. The legionnaires grabbed Julie-Su's arms, dragged her to the door of the tent, and threw her out.

Julie-Su hit the ground with a hard thud. She moaned as she tried to get up, but couldn't. Her face, her arms, her legs, all bruised. She coughed and wiped some blood from her lip as she stood up with the support of a tree. All the while she wondered why she had come back to this. Why? She moaned as she staggered over to the next tree, almost falling over as she went. Her quarters were across the camp. She would surly pass out from exhaustion before she made it. No. She couldn't let that happen. Not here. Not with her around. She staggered to get to the next tree when someone came up from behind her, threw their arm around her waist, grabbing her arms, and clamping their hand over her mouth. She tried to call for help as she was dragged back into the woods, but it was no use. She struggled to get free, but she felt so weak, and her captor held her tightly against himself. 'Oh no! I'm gonna get raped! No! Please, no!' she thought to herself as she kicked her feet trying to get free. Rape was an all too common thing in the legion. It's advised that you don't travel alone at night. Even if the victim saw her rapist, he was always wearing a black cloak. Nothing to go on, and the rapist was never even punished. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she moaned in protest, only letting out muffled cries.

Her kidnapper's back hit against a tree, and she began to struggle and moan even more, thinking his stopping meant the worst. Suddenly, a voice said, "Quiet! It's me, Knuckles!" She froze as a calm feeling washed over her. "It's just me. I just wanna talk. Okay?" he asked, not letting her go in case she tried to scream for help. She nodded her head and muffled a reply. "Okay," he said as he let her go. She quickly jumped off of him and spun around." What are you doing here?" she asked. "What are you doing here?" he asked in reply. "I asked you a question!" "Okay then. I came here to see why you just left me there. If you had full intentions to rejoin them, you would have killed me, or at least taken me prisoner. But you didn't. So, why did you leave? So you could get beat up?" She stared at him with teary eyes for a moment, and then shuddered. "I came here because…I don't know." "Who was that?" he asked. "She's Kommisar. My step-sister. She…she always does that to me. She blames me for everything that goes wrong and uses me as a personal punching bag. If I try to defend myself, she has guards hold me still." She paused, then continued, "One time I tried to defend myself and hit her back…and she beat me up until I was unconscious. I woke up in the medical wing and had to stay there for three days." She began to cry and said, "I hate it here. But it's all I have."

"What about Knothole? The others?" "They never trusted me. You only treat me nice because I saved your life. I see people staring at me all the time, wondering what I'm doing there. Even that little girl…that sweet little girl, was afraid of me." Tears began to roll down her face as she closed her eyes and said, "I know it's Hell of Mobius, but it's all I have. It's the only place I belong…" She opened her eyes when she felt his thumb wiping away the tears on her cheek. "Listen…Even if no one trusted you…would it be worth it if one person trusted you? A person like me, who didn't trust you before? Wouldn't that be better than living like this? If you come back with me…I promise, no, I swear…that she will never, ever hit you again." She stared at him with her teary eyes, then threw her arms around him, crying. He slowly returned the embrace, as she silently cried.

His head shot off to the side as he heard a twig snap. He whispered in her ear, "Run. Get out of here. I'll be right behind you." She looked up at him, looked in the direction he was looking in, until he gently began to motion her off to the side. "Hurry." She began to run through the trees and bushes as fast as she could. She didn't stop, even at the sound of laser fire behind her. That only made her run faster. Why was he risking so much for her? She never got to ponder that thought, because when she jumped through the brush, she found herself on a cliff alongside a raging waterfall. She turned to go back, only to see Kommisar with her wicked smile. "Thought you could get away? Too bad for you," she said as she pulled up a laser pistol, "I'll just tell grandfather that you were lost in combat." She heard the shot fire, but before it could hit her, Knuckles had leapt in the way and it struck him in the back as he knocked her over the edge with himself. Kommisar looked over the side of the cliff and smiled. 'No way could they have survived that fall. Too bad. I was looking forward to killing her myself."

"They've been gone for a while now," Cap said as he tossed yet another ball of paper at the trash bin. "Think something's up?" Grim asked. "She seemed really upset. Maybe she and Knux went for a walk or…um…went for a walk," F.C. commented. "But it's been a bit too long. Even for…for that," Tails replied. "Yeah, well I'm bored. Waddaya wanna talk about?" Freezie asked the group. "How about…what scares you the most?" "Alright. Rotor?" "Snakes." "Espio?" "Tight spaces." "Grim?" "I fear nothing. Now if you'll excuse me," he said as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door. They all jumped when they heard him scream. They burst through the door and saw him trying to barbeque a spider. "DAH! SPIDER!" he shouted as he tried to blast it, burning the floor tiles as he missed the spider in his state of panic. "Look out!" Vipes yelled as he threw a ninja star, which landed next to the spider. They all stared at him until Mighty said, "You're a ninja…and you miss?" "Well, he's not a very _good_ ninja," Swiper commented. "Yeah. You suck," Vector said. "Shut up!" "SPIIIIII-D-EEEEEER!"

Miles away, in the side of a mountain, a series of rooms stand secluded from the rest of the island. They had not been used in months, and dust had begun to gather on the contents. Suddenly, the door burst open, and two figures slowly came in. One supported the other on her shoulder as the other dragged his feet. Knuckles groaned as Julie-Su slowly pulled him into the room. She had his arm over her shoulder, trying to hold him up. His back was badly burned, and he needed to treat it fast. "Knuckles, where are the medical supplies?" she asked. He gave no straight answer. He just motioned his arm up towards the next room, and let it fall. She hurried him in and saw a bed and a book shelf in the room, along with a few dressers and a closet. She laid him on his stomach on the bed and hurried to find something to treat his wound. She opened one of the dressers and saw that it was full of medical supplies. She hurried and grabbed what she needed. "Knuckles…this may sting," she warned. "I've…felt worse," he mumbled. She applied a strange liquid to his wound, which rested upon the back of his left shoulder. He winced the first second, and then past pain rushed back to him. It was as if the shot had hit his shoulder again as he stood before the crowd. Then came the screams. He growled to try to shut them out, but that never worked. Julie-Su watched as his body shook as he growled. He slowly calmed down, then passed out. She stared in wonder for a moment, and then bandaged his injury. When she was done, she pulled some covers over him so he wouldn't get cold, and then left the room.

She sat on an old sofa in the next room, after making a fire in the small fireplace to keep warm. She looked around her and saw pictures hanging on the walls. She walked over to one and stared at it. It was a picture of Knuckles. He was with three echidnas. One was taller than him with a white robe and goatee, another was a red female that was shorter than him, wearing a yellow dress, and the other was a brown male, wearing a blue outfit. And in Knuckles' arms was a small baby, sleeping against his chest. His most distinguishing feature was that he was smiling. Not one of those wicked smiles she often saw on him. A happy smile. She had never seen Knuckles look happy like that.

"See something you like?" a voice said, she turned to see him standing strongly, the bandages off him. "What are you-" she began, until he turned to reveal his injury was gone. "I can be pretty amazing." She looked back at the picture and picked it up. "Knuckles…who are they?" he took it and stared. He sat down on the couch, and she sat beside him as he said, "That's my dad, my mom, my step-dad Wyn…and that's my baby brother." "What's his name?" "Kneecaps. I don't think he likes that too much, so I just call him Mace, his middle name." He paused for a moment, and his eyes became tearier and tearier as he spoke. "I used to go over to my mom's place and play with him all the time. I read him stories and we played with blocks…" he paused, choking back the tears, his voice cracking, "We did a lot together…me and Mace." He turned to her when he felt her hand rest on his, and she asked, "Knuckles…what happened?" He took a deep breath and began to speak, "It was about six months ago…"

The streets of Echidnapolis were filled with cheering echidnas as Knuckles was asked to come up to the podium and speak. It was the day of the naming of the island. It would be named Angel Island, after Edmund's mother, Ange-La. He stood before the crowd with red cheeks as he began. "Um…Hello. I'm not a great public speaker, but I guess I can give it a shot. This island means a lot to me. It's been my home for as long as I can remember. To me…it wasn't about guarding the emerald. It was about guarding what I loved. I've been through some hard times, but I can live with it. I owe that to my dad. He helped prepare me for what lay ahead of me. He wasn't a good dad…he was a great dad. I also have to thank my mom…for helping me develop character. And the other person I have to thank is my baby brother, Mace…for giving me one more reason to keep the island safe." The crowd cheered loudly, until they began to scream when a laser shot hit Knuckles in the shoulder. When he woke up, there was still screaming all around. He quickly jumped up and was shocked at what he saw. The Legion had attacked. No. This wasn't an attack…it was a massacre. Dead bodies filled the streets. He then noticed one body in particular fall to the ground. It was the body of his father, Locke. Tears fell from his eyes as he watched it hit the ground, among the rest of the Brotherhood! He whimpered for a brief second, then growled and charged at the legionnaires closest to him. A chilling voice caused him to stop and look up. It was Dimitri in a Legion hovercraft. "Hello, Knuckles." "You monster!" Knuckles shouted as he motioned to charge, but stopped when he noticed Dimitri pointing at the huge screen in the middle of the square. On the screen was Lara-Le, tears in here eyes, but remaining strong. "Mom?" "Knuckles…mommy loves you, sweetie. You've made me so proud…" "Mom?" He watched as a legionnaire stepped from behind her and drew a knife next to her neck. With his mother's scream of pain, he was left with an image that would remain with him until his grave. "MOM!" Dimitri chuckled as he watched the tears fall from Knuckles' eyes. "Let's go. We've done enough damage for one day." And with that final note, Dimitri left, and his attack force retreated, leaving dead bodies in the streets, and a Guardian, crying on his knees.

Julie-Su stared at him in shock. He had yet to start crying. "I went to my mom's apartment to look for Mace and Wyn…Wyn was dead. And Mace…Mace…They took him." She watched as he tried his hardest not to break down. "Knuckles…if…if you want to cry…I won't tell anyone." "No. I…I can't. I need to be strong…need to be tough." "No you don't. No one cares. Knuckles, bottling this up will kill you. It's okay…" After a few seconds, he lost it. He started sobbing like crazy, grabbing the sides of his face with his hands. She put her arms around him to comfort him as he continued to cry. "It'll be okay. It'll be okay. We'll find him," she whispered. "Y-you prom-omise?" he managed to say through the sobs. She was surprised how innocent and childlike he sounded. He tried his hardest to maintain this 'tough-guy' appearance, but on the inside he was a gentle, crying little boy. After a while, he finally settled down. "Was that so hard?" she asked. "Not…not really…Thanks." "You're welcome. "They stared into the fire for a little bit, until he asked, "How do you feel? I mean…after how she…" "I'm fine. Just…just really sore," she said as she lowered her head. "So…is there anything _you _wanna get off _your_ chest?"

She looked back at him, then sighed. "Like I said, she always used to hit me. I had friends, but she transferred them to other bases. She would offer extra rations to some people to do things to me. A couple of girls pretended to be my friends over the course of a week. We went to a nearby lake to go swimming…and they jumped me. They tied my arms behind my back and dunked me in the water until I couldn't breathe. When they were done, they beat me up and left me on the shore." There was a pause, then she went on, "One night…when I was asleep, some people snuck into my room. They held me down and forced me to breathe in some chemicals that knocked me out. When I woke up…I was gagged and tied to a tree in my underwear in front of the camp. No one helped me. They would walk by and laugh as I tried pleading for help. Later on some girls untied me, but then they beat me up. It…it was humiliating…" she whispered as tears fell from her eyes. He slowly put his hand on hers, which initially calmed her down, but she wasn't done just yet. "The worst night…was one time after she had beaten me up. I was so weak I couldn't get up…and some guys grabbed me and took me into one of their tents…" His eyes widened as she turned to him. "They didn't do anything serious… but…they held me down…they undressed me…touched me…kissed me…I tried to stop them, but I was too weak. Once they were satisfied…they took me back into the woods and left me there." He was relieved when she stopped, but then her tears were renewed. "But then one of them came back…He took me to his own tent…and he…he…" Knuckles' eyes widened as she couldn't finish her sentence. "He didn't! Oh, Julie-Su…Come here," he said as he put her arms around her as she sobbed. "I guess…I should feel lucky. I didn't become pregnant or anything like that, but…but after that I knew I had to get out of there. So I left with…with whatever I could bring…and then I found Knothole." "I am so, so sorry. You were trying to forget about that…and I was treating you like you were one of them…when you never were," he said, feeling like dirt about how he had treated her.

They sat in silence in each others arms for a few minutes, not realizing it, until she asked, "Why are you still holding me?" He blushed as he said, "I'm sorry! I-I didn't…" "No! Don't let go," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder. He sat in silence, until he felt her cheek sliding against his. He sat motionless as she continued to do so until her lips met his. After a few seconds, she stopped kissing him and looked at him sadly, "What's wrong? You…you don't seem like you're really…into it." "After all you've been through…after what's…happened to you…I don't want to make you feel…uncomfortable," he whispered. She smiled at his sincerity and said, "You could never be like that. You're too gentle," as she leaned closer to him. He slowly moved forward until their lips met. All the pain that each of them had carried in their hearts for so long seemed to melt away as they held each other. It began to rain outside, but they didn't notice it. At that point in time, they only needed each other.

Author's Note: So? What did you think? I finally revealed Knuckles' dark past, and he wasn't the onlyone with one! How will things go from here? Can't tell you yet! Was it worth all that time it took me to put it up? Hope so. Any comments, good or bad? I'll take any. Any reviews would be nice. I'd like to know some opinions. Anyway, more soon.


	6. Revenge

Author's Note: It's here! Knux gets face-to-face with Dimitri! Just to let you all know, my main page has been updated with a few things. Might be an idea to check it out. nyway, here you go!

REVENGE

Sally and Bunnie pushed the door open a crack and peeked into the boy's room. Some were on the floor in sleeping bags, some were on the couch. DJ's head slowly rose up and turned each way to absorb his surroundings. He put his mouth close to Grim's ear and belched into it. Grim flailed around as he fell off the couch. He swore at the top of his lungs, waking everyone up. "What are you doing!" Grim shouted. "Waking you up," DJ replied. "I swear I'll…" he began, until Sally cut him off. "I was going to wake you all up anyway. Knuckles and Julie-Su never came back last night." The guys paused and looked at each other, snickering. "Somebody got lucky last night!" "Good for him!" Sonic remained silent. His mouth had already gotten him a VIP seat on Sally's bad side. "Will you pervs shut up! They could be in trouble!" Bunnie scolded. "Knux can take care of himself. So can Julie-Su," Espio said. "Nevertheless, I shall run a mystic scan for them," FC said as he sat in the lotus position and began to meditate. "Don't mess up! Don't mess up! Don't mess up! Don't" "SHUT UP, VECTOR!" After a few seconds, he stood up. "Well?" "Look out the window." They all peered out the window and saw the two echidnas walking down the street towards their building.

"You feeling better?" Knuckles asked. "I'm not as sore anymore. That weird ointment really helped," she replied. "I'm glad." She would have replied back if not for the yelling of their friends. "What happened? We were so worried!" Tails yelled as he hovered over. "We…had a little run-in with the Legion and had to sack out at my old place." There was a silence for a moment as the others stared at them suggestively. "Get those thought out of your heads," Julie-Su said. "Right…" Sally said, still smiling. Julie-Su smiled and turned to Knuckles, "Personally, I despise him." He turned to her with a smile and replied, "And I can't stand the sight of you." Constable Remington rushed over, gasping, "Guardian! We feared the worst!" Knuckles smiled and said, "We're fine." Remington glanced over at Julie-Su, then Knuckles. "I cannot say I understand this, knowing your past with legionnaires, but if you see something in her, then she must be special." "She is."

Their discussion would have gone on longer, if not for the yelling of a well-dressed echidna. "Guardian! It's you!" He was a brown echidna with a white robe and a black cape. "Hello Counselor Yanar," Knuckles said. "I see you have returned unharmed. This is most fortunate. Constable, take this legionnaire into your custody." Remington glanced over at Knuckles, who said, "She is under my protection, high counselor. There will be no need for that." "Oh, but there will. You see, the laws have changed since you left us. Any legionnaire taken within the city limits is to be put on trial…and executed." All eyes widened. "You can't do that!" "Oh, but I can, and I will. Remington…do your duty." Remington sighed as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Julie-Su backed away, and Knuckles stood between her and Remington. "What proof do you have that she has done anything?" The high counselor raised a brow and asked, "Why, Guardian, do you protect her? Have you gone soft on a legionnaire, after they killed so many of our people, including your family?" The other Freedom Force members, stared at their red companion, shocked at this information. "Knuckles…why didn't you…" Sally began. Yanar continued, "And especially after you slaughtered the perpetrators of the massacre." Now everyone, including Julie-Su, was shocked. "I see you didn't tell them about what you did that day…"

Cries of pain filled the air as the wounded were being cared to. Remington ran through the streets, hoping to find the young Guardian. Alive, that is. He spotted him on his hands and knees, sobbing. "Guardian…I am so, so sorry," he said as he knelt next to the Guardian, putting his arm around his shoulder. Yanar ran over, shouting, "What are you doing! This is not the time for you to mourn!" Remington stood up and shouted, "For pity's sake! He just lost his whole family!" "There is no time for that! The legionnaires are refueling on the island's edge! We can still catch them!" Knuckles slowly rose to him knees, growling. His eyes were filled with hate and rage. He shot forward, darting off. Remington yelled after him, but he didn't listen.

At the island's edge, the legionnaires laughed. "Did you see the Guardian? What a baby!" "You'd cry too if you saw your mom's freakin' head get cut off." "No I wouldn't! I'd do it myself! I hated my mom!" "How many did you get?" "Fifty four." "Sixty seven!" "Thirty six!" They laughed and laughed, until they heard a scream. They grabbed their weapons and rushed to where the scream originated, where they froze in place. There was a legionnaire on the ground, his chest ripped open, standing over at him was the Guardian. His bare hands were bloody, the lethal spurs dripping the thick substance. Blood was splattered on his chest and face. He growled as he stared at them with his eyes. His evil eyes, that seemed to freeze them in place. He didn't seem like himself at all. He seemed like a savage beast. He roared as he charged at the legionnaires, who never saw what was coming. Legionnaires ran around the camp, shouting and firing. Red flashes shot before them. Sometimes it was the Guardian, most times it was blood. "HELP!" "NO! PLEASE, DON'T!" "NO! NO!"

It eventually came down to one legionnaire, who ran for his life until he found himself cut off by the island's edge. He turned around when he heard a growl, and came face to face with the Guardian. "No….please!" "I know you. You're the one that killed my mother!" Knuckles growled as he grabbed the legionnaire. The legionnaire panted heavily as the Guardian glared at him, but then lowered his fist. "Wh-what are you…" "You made my mother die a horrible death. You'll get the same treatment," Knuckles said as he slashed off the legionnaire's robotic appendages. All that was left now was a body and a head. Knuckles left him in the middle of the camp and left. "You're gonna leave me here to starve!" Knuckles came back with a tank in his hand, an evil smile on his face, "No. That would be letting you off easy." The legionnaire watched as the Guardian began to pour the tank's contents in a spiral around him, leading inward. He sniffed the air and was shocked. "G-gas!" the legionnaire shouted, before having the remains of the tank dumped on him. The Guardian drew a match and stared at the legionnaire for a second, who began to beg. "Please! Just kill me quick! Don't do this!" "I'm sure my mother pleaded, but you didn't let her go. Burn in Hell," Knuckles said as he dropped the match. The legionnaire screamed as the flames began to circle around him in a spiral, drawing closer and closer, until it finally reached him. As he screamed in pain, he heard the Guardian laughing. A hysterical, cold, sinister laugh that would have given him the chills if he were not on fire. Knuckles laughed until the legionnaire stopped screaming and was dead. His eyes widened as he looked down at himself, covered in the blood of the legionnaires.

All were silent as Yanar finished his story. Finally, Ray asked, "Kn-knux…is-is that t-true?" Knuckles was also silent, until he turned to them and said, "Yes. I killed them all." He was quiet again, until he said, "And the scariest part is…I enjoyed it." "So I don't understand why you defend her," Yanar said. "It's…it's because I…I love her….and I won't let you, or anyone else hurt her ever again." Sally glanced over at Julie-Su and noticed that she was a bit bruised. She would have asked about it, but Yanar cut in. "You can't be serious! This is unacceptable! One of such high class as yourself and a piece of trash like that!" Knuckles walked right up to Yanar, glared him in the eyes and said, "I said that no one will hurt her again. That means physically _and_ emotionally. So I would watch what I said if I were you." Yanar didn't flinch. He stepped back and snapped his fingers. Another echidna ran over and handed him a packet. "We managed to hack into a Legion database and pulled up all the files we could before we were cut off. She happens to have a very interesting file," Yanar boasted, flapping the packet in the air. Suddenly, the packet burst into flames, causing Yanar to jump away as it brunt into ash. All turned to Grim, who looked up surprised and sarcastically said, "Oh, I'm sorry! Did I do that? Silly me. I just snapped my fingers! Oh well." A piece of paper floated by, he snapped his fingers, and it ignited and burnt away. "_That_ is a cool power!" Rotor said. "I know."

Yanar growled and said, "We have copies on our computers!" Knuckles gave him a curious look, and then glared. "You say you hacked into a Legion database?" Yanar flinched and replied, "Yes. It took many weeks, but we" "The Legion is more advanced than Robotnik. How could you, with our limited technology, every hack into their files? Unless someone was _let_ in." Knuckles said. Yanar was sweating as Knuckles stepped closer to him. "And why are you bent on killing Julie-Su, anyway? Is it maybe because she could leak out some information that could ruin someone's plans? Someone like…you?" All turned to Yanar, who got on the defensive. "Th-that's preposterous! H-How could…could…" He stopped as Knuckles grabbed his collar and growled, "You let the Angel Island Massacre happen! Traitor!" Knuckles drew up his fist to strike, but Sally stopped him. "Wait! Knuckles, I know it hurts, but he could have some information that we could use!" Yanar chuckled, "I won't lose so easily!" He pushed a switch on his sleeve, and out of the forest came a platoon of swat bots! "Surrender now!" one shouted.

As the others got ready to fight, DJ and Swiper slipped into an alley. DJ got to work hacking into the swat bot broadcast frequency. They were controlled from Robotipolis through radio waves. If he could intercept them, he could take control. "I'm in, but it requires voice activation. Swiper?" Swiper grabbed a small microphone DJ gave him and coughed. Impersonating Robotnik, he shouted, "Cease your attack!"

As the Freedom Force prepared to charge the robots, they suddenly paused. "What the heck?" "It's a trick. Be ready for anything!" Sally ordered.

"I order you…to dance!" Swiper said into the mike. "Dance, master?" a bot responded. "You who question me! Self destruct now!" "Yes master." The Freedom Force watched in wonder as a robot exploded. "Huh?" Suddenly, the swat bots began to perform a rendition of an Irish River Dance.

"This is awesome! My own robot army!" "Well get rid of 'em!" DJ scolded. "Alright. Now…conga off of the island's edge!" The Freedom Force stood by as the swat bots began to conga to the island's edge. One by one they fell over into the ocean, until all were gone. They all looked at each other in confusion, then shook it off and turned back to Yanar.

"I won't say anything!" Knuckles glared at him with an evil smile, then began to drag him by his collar. They followed him to the edge, where he dangled Yanar. "You can't do this!" Yanar shouted in fright. Knuckles smiled, "You're right," he said as he pulled him back, then grabbed Yanar's arm with both hands and broke it, causing Yanar to scream in pain, "Now if you try swimming to shore, the broken arm will drag you down." Although Sally didn't like his methods, she began questioning Yanar. She gathered as much tactical information as she could, then turned to Knuckles. "Alright, Yanar! Sally may go easy on you, but I won't! Now tell me…where is my little brother!" They all turned to him in confusion. "You have a…" Knuckles held Yanar with one hand and pulled out his locket with the other. He flipped it open to reveal a picture of his baby brother and pointed it at Yanar. "Where!" "He…is with Dimitri himself…in New Necropolis." Knuckles nodded, "Thanks. Now die," he said as he dropped Yanar, who screamed until he hit the water. Sally motioned for whoever could fly to save him, but Knuckles got in their way and threatened, "If any of you try to save him, I'll break your arms and leave you with him! I would have made his death last longer, but there's too many kids here." With that final note, he headed back towards the city.

Mighty caught his arm and said, "Wait! You're just gonna barge into New Necropolis! That's suicide!" "Dimitri has had my brother for far too long. I'm getting what's left of my family back. I don't need you anymore," Knuckles said as he continued to walk. Sally jumped in front of him and said, "Wait! You were using us?" He paused, then answered 'yes'. All stared in disbelief. "Thanks for your help, but I have to go now." Julie-Su grabbed his arm and made him look at her, "Let us help you. We can do it together." He sighed and shook his head. "Then does that mean you were using me, too?" His head shot up, "No! No, I'd never…!" "Then what's the problem? I thought last night meant something to you. It did to me. I felt like someone actually cared about me. So do you love me? Or am I just a piece of crap like Kommisar always told me I was? What I believed I was." He was silent, and then sighed, "You'll have to…find someone else." Her eyes widened as tears built in them. "I'm too far gone. I've lived too long with all this hate…Once Dimitri's dead…I'll be the biggest killer on the planet. You deserve better. So does Mace. I…I just want to see him one more time before I bring him here. Remmy will find a nice place for him." "What about you?" "Me? I can't let any more evil ruin your lives. Once Mace is in a nice home…I won't be around for too much longer." All eyes widened. "When I killed Legionnaires, the pain felt like it left. But it only grew worse. I had to kill more. Now…what will happen when I kill Dimitri? Julie-Su, I'm sorry…but I have to do this for everyone. It's for the best. I have to leave. Good bye." He kissed her head and left, leaving them all behind.

Julie-Su began to sob, Sally hugging her for comfort. Grim growled in frustration. "He never cared what happened! I oughta make an echidna roast outta him!" Cap turned to him and said, "Calm down. There's more to it than that." "Like what? The dude used us all this time! We could have all died and he wouldn't have cared!" Vector shouted. Julie-Su stopped crying and wiped her eyes. "We…we need to go after him. He needs us now more than ever. He doesn't mean it all that way…He cares about us…he just needs his brother." "Then let's go get him," Sally said, "Ravagers, you head back to Knothole in case things go bad." "Alright," Cap said as the others headed back to the city.

Knuckles hated himself now. He had hurt all of them…especially her. He felt even worse about stealing the jet. When he landed in New Necropolis, he noticed how silent the streets were. Someone was waiting for him. New Necropolis was a large city, with large menacing towers that pierced into the sky like spears. He wandered down the empty streets until he reached a square, where he heard a familiar laugh. He snarled and turned, only to face Dimitri himself. No guards. Just Dimitri. "Welcome, Knuckles," he said calmly. He obviously didn't realize that his life was moments from ending. "Dimitri! Where is my brother!" Knuckles demanded. ""Oh! You mean cute little Kneecaps? Heh. What a stupid name. _Meiniker_ is asleep in my tower." Knuckles growled. Dimitri had named Mace after his own son, who had died long ago. "How dare you call him that!" "I had actually hoped that I would have had him for a few more years. Teach him to hate you. Teach him that you were the enemy." "Why! You've taken everything from me! What is your sick obsession with me!" "Because you are the last son of Edmund. Once you die, then the weak wing of our family will be gone." "I'm gonna rip your lungs out!" Knuckles growled.

"Heh. You're more like me than Edmund. Edmund. No, I see none of him in you. My brother was a pest. He didn't have my courage. Or my strength. He tried to convince me that it was for the best for the High Council to ruin our plans, the weakling. But…then it happened. I transformed. I absorbed the emerald's power and became the all mighty Enerjak!" "I've heard this bedtime story before. You went nuts and tried to enslave the planet. But then Edmund reversed the chaos siphon you used to drain energy and took it from you. Not as smart as you think you are if you didn't see that coming." Dimitri glared for a second, and then smiled again. "Yes. It was a foolish mistake. However, my dark tower collapsed upon me as the drainage was taking place, which left me with enough chaos energy to remain alive for the centuries I was imprisoned. Then, a little over a decade ago, the Dark Legion discovered me while excavating the site of my tower, and roboticized me so that I might lead them." "Save your life story for the obituaries!" Knuckles shouted. "Oh. I see we're in a rush. Well then, let me get to the point. It has taken us many years, but I have done it! I have re-created the siphon and gathered eleven emeralds!" "WHAT!" Dimitri laughed as his palm began to light up as he activated the siphon, eleven emeralds swirling around him. "You will be the first to see the rebirth of Enerjak!"

Dimitri growled as the emerald energy swirled around him. His metal frame became eradiated in a green light that almost blinded Knuckles. Suddenly, his cold, metallic body began to change into blue and gold armor. When Knuckles looked up, he couldn't believe it. Enerjak chuckled as he stared down at his great-grandnephew. "So, Knuckles, are you ready to die?" Knuckles clenched his fists and teeth. This was it. Time to finish what had started so long ago.

_I charge, knowing well that I'm going to my grave. I feel my heart beating rapidly, the sweat pouring down my brow, my muscles tensing up for battle. It's like nothing can stop me, like I'm an unstoppable force of nature. I hit a wall of energy and become frozen in place. He holds out his palm, and an unseen force throws me back. I feel skin rip and bones crack as I hit the metal wall and crash through it. I spit the blood out of my mouth, and get up. It's different now. The rules have changed. Before, I would have killed him because I wanted to. It's not a desire anymore. It's a necessity. With this power, he could rule Mobius in a matter of minutes. I have to beat him. For the family I lost on Angel Island. For the family I gave up in Knothole. I walk out of the rubble and face him again. . I love this feeling. I love dying. The feeling you get before it, that is. It's funny. At the borderline of life and death…I've never felt more alive._

To Be Continued…

Author's Note: Yep. That's how it all ends. Questions? Comments? Don't be too mad, though. I have a sequel in the works. What will it be about? Let's just say that this part of the story, all the missions and hardships, were nothing compared to what's in store for our heroes. I hope you've enjoyed this story and I look forward to your opinions and reviews. Catch ya later!


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